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Obama Once Again Shows Willingness to Work with House Republicans on Immigration

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Next Move is on Republicans

Washington, DC – Today, President Obama once again signaled flexibility in working with House Republicans on immigration reform, saying  at a Wall Street Journal forum, per a White House pool report, “They’re [the House] suspicious of comprehensive bills, but you know what? If they want to chop that thing up into five pieces, as long as all five pieces get done, I don’t care what it looks like, as long as it’s actually delivering on those core values that we talk about.”

Despite House Republicans’ attempts to portray the President asunwilling to negotiate on the issue, the President has showed marked openness.  Last month, in a speech urging the House to act this year, President Obama said:  “I do know — and this is good news — that many [Republicans] agree that we need to fix our broken immigration system across these areas that we’ve just discussed. And what I’ve said to them, and I’ll repeat today, is if House Republicans have new and different additional ideas for how we should move forward, then we want to hear them. I’ll be listening.”

The important thing is, of course, that Republicans have to put their ideas on the table.  And so far, this is where they have fallen short.

According to Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of America’s Voice: “The President has shown over and over again that he’s willing to be flexible and work with House Republicans on process, as long as they get to a comprehensive result.  Central to that, of course, is a plan to deal responsibly and realistically with the 11 million men, women, and children living in the U.S. without papers.  Despite months of backroom discussions and promises, we have yet to see House Republicans’ proposal on a path to citizenship for aspiring Americans.  The ball is in House Republicans’ court: step forward with a plan and get it done, or continue to be blamed for blocking reform.”